"A man who grabbed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's podium and posed with it for photographs during the U.S. Capitol riot is running for county office in Florida. Adam Johnson filed to run as a Republican for an at-large seat on the Manatee County Commission on Tuesday. That was the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot, where he was photographed smiling and waving as he carried Pelosi's podium after the pro-Trump mob's attack on Jan. 6, 2021."
"Johnson placed the podium in the center of the Capitol Rotunda, posed for pictures and pretended to make a speech, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty in 2021 of entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground, a misdemeanor that he equated to "jaywalking" in the interview. "I think I exercised my First Amendment right to speak and protest," Johnson said. After driving home, Johnson bragged that he "broke the internet" and was "finally famous," prosecutors said."
Adam Johnson, who grabbed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's podium during the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot and posed for photographs, filed as a Republican candidate for an at-large seat on the Manatee County Commission in Florida. He filed on the fifth anniversary of the riot and uses a campaign logo that outlines the viral photograph of him carrying the podium. Johnson pleaded guilty in 2021 to a misdemeanor for entering and remaining in a restricted building, called the act 'jaywalking,' and asserted a First Amendment defense. He served 75 days in prison, received one year of supervised release, was fined $5,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. Other participants and pardoned defendants from Jan. 6 have also sought or announced runs for public office.
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